Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Burger Republic: Resistance is Futile

When I moved to Nashville no one would have conceived of Nolensville as any kind of foodie test market. It was completely rural: housing was sparse and you could drive from a strip mall just below Old Hickory Boulevard, on the city's south side, and not see a red anything until you got to the stop sign at Highway 96, 14 miles later.

Twenty years later, I'm sitting in Burger Republic's first satellite franchise restaurant in Nashville's Gulch, and it makes perfect sense that developers who took some of the greatest chances on area real estate for the 'work hard/play harder' crowd would seek eateries putting well-researched, high end comfort food on the local map.

Like Martin's BBQ, aficionados have been telling Nashvillians about Lennox Village's (a high density, mixed use development that sprang up in Nolensville a decade ago) Burger Republic for a few years. BR didn't make it into Bon Apetit and other gastronomic authority publications, though. With one major change, they could easily join the undisputed Nashville burger kings. It just happens that change would also mean disrupting the marketing of their main product, and possibly their franchise ambitions. I'll come back to that after the breakdown:

Flavor: 6. I made two visits to Burger Republic, because on the first occasion I ordered a burger that had various gourmet elements that I thought might be overshadowing an otherwise boring burger. For the second visit, I stuck to American cheese & lettuce to let the taste of the beef come through. It didn't. Really, it's the condiments — gooey cheddar, thick bacon and special sauce — that brought the action on my previous visit and this score is based on basic burger flavor, of which there isn't very much of, on its own.

Atmosphere: 7. It's a very neutral look inside. Dark booths, white walls, large screen TVs and a wall of taps. Good sized patio.

Digestivity: 10 One hour later, feeling good.

Overall: 7.

First, Burger Republic lovers, before you start thinking I'm cray-cray, know that the overall score is actually higher than the numbers add up to and average. That's because the sides, Truffled Tater Tots and Mac & Cheese, were delicious. I have no doubt the spiked shakes are also wonderful.

So ... about the beef. Burger Republic makes a big deal of its source, in Certified Angus Beef.
There's a big sign on the wall outside the door. There's Certified
Angus Beef swag, in the oversized steak knives. True hamburger lovers know, though, Angus doesn't matter in the burger world. Most connoisseurs would put it well behind local organic grass-fed anything, local grass-fed anything, and organic anything. In that order. In making that one switch, from a beef chosen for flavor and local freshness, rather than its ability to taste the same in Tennessee as it should in Vancouver, Burger Republic could transition from being a great place for a burger to being a great place for a great burger.